[Saba Sports News] Max Verstappen recently revealed that his GT3 team is becoming increasingly professional and has clearly set its sights on competing in higher-level professional categories for the 2026 season. The team won the Gold Cup championship in the GT World Challenge Europe in the 2025 season, which gives them the confidence to challenge for the highest level, the Pro category.
A key change occurred on Christmas Eve last year when the team announced that starting from the 2026 season, they would switch from Ferrari to Mercedes, signing a multi-year collaboration agreement. This is seen as a significant step towards the team’s upgrade and indicates that their long-term planning is serious rather than just a hobby.
Changing the race car means that everything from technical adaptation and tuning philosophy to team collaboration must be reworked, but Verstappen believes this is a necessary price to pay for moving to a higher level. In an interview with the official Red Bull podcast, Verstappen mentioned that starting from the Gold Cup category in the 2025 season was a pragmatic decision, as the team’s British driver, Chris Lulham, had mainly participated in sim racing competitions. Jumping directly into the Pro category would have been too risky, so the team decided to first use lap times as a reference, benchmarking against professional categories.
As the season progressed, the drivers made noticeable improvements in vehicle balance, qualifying, and long-distance race pace, and ultimately winning the championship validated that their initial goal was correct.